Conn’s Reaches Major Milestone

Conn’s, the Houston-based furniture and specialty home goods retailer, opened its 100th store yesterday.

The milestone was reached in Las Vegas, where the multiregional chain cut the ribbon to a 52,000-square-foot HomePlus showroom, it’s first in Sin City.

The 125-year-old company is on a tear of late, with new store openings up 20 percent over the last 18 months as it pursues its goal of a becoming a national 500-store chain.

Indeed, Conn’s, which already stretches from Nevada to the Carolinas, is on track to open upward of 18 new locations this year, and plans to open as many as 25 more in 2016.

“This is a significant milestone for Conn’s that underscores the hard work and unrelenting focus on customer service that has sustained our company for 125 years,” said CEO Norm Miller. “Our continued national growth also reinforces how our exclusive, in-house credit program serves a growing and underserved market that needs affordable credit options in order to purchase important goods for their home.”

But that same easy in-house credit has also led to an increase in late customer payments and crimped earnings, which prompted the ouster of Miller’s once-heralded predecessor Theo Wright.